


The First Day of School

by moretrash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Fluff, I included some headcanons about Galran culture, Keith (Voltron) was Raised by the Blade of Marmora, Keith is a mama's boy in this AU, Kid Fic, Kid Keith (Voltron), Narti is blind and mute, Preschool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 15:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16915782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: It's Keith first day of preschool, featuring some new friends, and a few lessons in being nice to others.It turns out well in the end, though.





	The First Day of School

Krolia’s eyes fluttered open much earlier than usual; she had to be awake early that day. She sat up and yawned, looking around at her pack. She could see Kolivan and Ulaz getting ready for their jobs that required them to be awake earlier, and she could see Antok fighting waking up for the same reason. Thace was still asleep, lost to the world until Ulaz would wake him up; the man was notorious for not waking up on time for his job. 

She looked to her left and smiled gently; there, fast asleep under the blankets, lay her young kit, Keith. Keith wasn’t full Galra, as his father was human, so he looked more like a human than a Galra. The boy was small, only two deca-pheobes old, looking very peaceful as he slept, though Krolia knew that the boy likely wasn’t going to be so peaceful for much longer.

That day was Keith’s first day of preschool, but it would also be the first time he would leave the nest. Galra kept their children protected in the nest until they went to school, typically at around two to four deca-pheobes. Krolia couldn’t remember the reason why, it was more of a protection thing many generations ago, but now it was more out of tradition than necessity. She wasn’t excited to let her child out of the nest without a pack member, letting him explore a whole new environment without someone familiar to fall back onto for comfort.

She got up and changed into her day clothes, yawning quietly. She nuzzled Kolivan as the man left, chuckling as Ulaz tried in vain to wake Thace.

“I have to get the kit up anyway, Ulaz. I will ensure that he wakes up on time.” Krolia said, knowing that Ulaz had to go to the medical bay early. Ulaz nodded and stepped back, nuzzling the shorter woman with a smile.

“Thank you, Krolia. Good luck with the kit.” He said, leaving the room. Krolia smiled and sat down, waking Thace up with a great deal of effort. After ensuring that Thace was awake, she turned to her sleeping kit, gently shaking his shoulder.

Keith woke up and yawned, turning his head to look at his mother with sleepy eyes. He certainly didn’t look happy to be woken up, as the only times he had been woken up early was so that Ulaz could give him a check-up before he had to leave.

“Good morning, Keith. Do you remember what today is?’ Krolia asked gently. Keith nodded and rubbed at his eyes.

“Schoo’?” He asked quietly. Krolia grinned and nodded, lifting the child into her lap. She set a small plate of food in front of him, already cut up. She handed a fork to the boy and let him eat, occasionally dabbing at his mouth with a napkin to clean it off. Keith could eat on his own, but it was very messy. 

She helped the boy get dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt, humming quietly as she tied his shoes for the toddler. She stood up and picked Keith up, leaving the nest room. Immediately, Keith looked around to take in this new environment. 

Various blades came up to observe the kit, having never seen the kit before. Keith shyly hid in his mother’s shoulder, earning quieted coos from the blades and his mom alike. Krolia smiled and finished the walk to the preschool in the blade headquarters, shifting Keith to one hip and nudging the door open. 

Unlike the rest of the blade headquarters, the preschool was decorated in bright, attracting colors. Unlike the purple lighting of the base, the preschool was lit up as though there was sunlight streaming in. Soft mats covered the floor to prevent injury to the small kits, and toys were stored in bins, while some were scattered on the floor because of the few kits that were already there. Krolia doubted there would be any more, there weren’t many kits in the blades. She set Keith down, though she wasn’t surprised when Keith clung to her as he took in the new environment he was in.

The man who ran the preschool, Andol, came over with a smile. Andol was an older Galra with a gentle demeanor, who had worked with kits prior to joining the blades, so he was a perfect fit to run the preschool. His pack member, Snyv, helped out at the preschool as well. 

“Good morning! And who do we have here?” Andol asked gently, crouching down to Keith’s eye-level with a smile. Keith hid against Krolia yet again, hissing quietly at the unfamiliar person being so close. Krolia frowned and gently nudged Keith’s shoulder.

“No hissing, Keith. He is a little shy.” Krolia said, directing the last part of Andol. Andol smiled and nodded, looking down at Keith.

“That is a pretty neat toy you have got there. Does it have a name?” He asked curiously, gesturing to Keith’s stuffed red lion.

The lions of Voltron were the topic of many a child’s favorite stories, including Keith, so it was no surprise to Krolia that stuffed versions of the lions were still being sold in stores millennia after the fall of voltron. Of course, she had purchased the red lion when she realized that that was Keith’s favorite to hear about. “Red.” Keith finally said quietly, holding the lion closer to his chest. 

“Red, huh? That’s a nice name. We have a few of the other lions in the toy bins, why don’t you go see if they can be friends?” Andol suggested kindly. Keith looked up his mother hesitantly, not wanting to leave her side. Krolia smiled and urged Keith to go over to the bins.

“Although I can not stay with you, I or another pack member will return at the end of the day for you.” Krolia said. Keith’s face scrunched up and he shook his head, clinging onto his mother and whining when he was once again put down near the toy bins. Krolia kissed her son’s head and ruffled the smooth black hair. “I love you, my kit.” She said, slipping out of the room. 

It took Keith a moment to realize that his mother had left, but Andol could pinpoint the exact millisecond that it set in for the child. Keith wailed and went to the door, trying to pull it open. Luckily, the doors and outlets were child-proofed for the children’s safety, but Andol picked him up anyway. The first couple of days were always the hardest for kits.

“Shh, little one, your mama will be back before you know it. Do you wanna play with the lions?” He suggested, digging the other colored lions out of the bins and laying them out for the child. “Look at how much bigger the black lion is than the red lion!” He said in an upbeat tone. Keith just kept wailing, thrashing in Andol’s arms. Andol sighed and put him down, not surprised when Keith toddled over to the door again, trying to undo the child safety lock. Luckily, he couldn’t, but Andol moved him away from the door anyway.

A small tug on his pant leg drew Andol’s attention temporarily away from Keith. There stood the oldest kit in the preschool, a four deca-pheobe old kit named Regris. 

“Who is that?” He asked softly. Andol smiled and crouched down to the kit’s small height. 

“This is Keith. He’s sad because he had to leave his mama for the first time. Do you think you can try to be his friend and get him to play?” Andol suggested. Regris nodded gravely, as though he had just been given the universe’s most important mission. He grabbed the soft stuffed animals and smiled, offering them to Keith. 

“Wanna play?” He asked. Keith shook his head and threw the stuffed animal.

“Hey, now, no. We don’t throw things, they could hurt someone.” Andol said. Keith huffed and sniffled, his wails starting up yet again. He was extremely attached to his mother, having never left her side. 

“Can you say sorry?” Andol asked quietly. Keith grumbled and curled into himself. 

“Sowwy.” The child said. For a second, Andol was a bit confused; at that age, Galran children could very easily talk in full sentences and had little problems with pronunciation. But he remembered that Krolia had warned him that humans developed slower than Galra, so he may not quite be up to the level of the average Galran child. Apparently, speech abilities were part of those developmental differences between humans and Galra. 

“There we go, little one. All is forgiven.” Andol said. Keith sniffled and grabbed onto his red lion stuffed animal. He looked up at Andol before he looked at the other stuffed lions. He reached out and snagged the Yellow lion, a small smile forming on his face. 

 

“Yellow!” Keith said. Andol grinned and nodded. 

“Yes, very good, that is yellow!” He said. “And what about this lion here?” He asked, pushing the green lion to the child.

“Green!” Keith exclaimed. 

“Yes, yes, very good!” Andol encouraged. “And this one?” He asked, pushing forward the black lion. It went on for a while, easily distracting the child. Soon enough, one of the other children, a three deca-pheobe old girl named Zethrid, came over. She grabbed the blue and green lions, assuming they weren’t in use. 

“NO!” Keith yelled, wrestling the lions out of the girls’ arms. Andol frowned and took the two toys.

“That is not nice! You have to share. She gets to play with the lions because you have already played with them, so it is her turn.” Andol said, gently handing the young girl the two lions. 

“But I want dem!” Keith said.

“I know, but you will wait your turn because that is the nice thing to do.” Andol said. Zethrid noticed Keith’s red lion, smiling.

“Do you want to play?” She asked. Keith frowned and looked down at his stuffed lion and back to the other lions. He shook his head, clutching his lions close to his chest as though he were under the impression that his own lion would be taken from him.

“No one is going to take your lion, kit. She is asking if you want to play with her with your own lion.” Andol said. Keith smiled and nodded, getting up and following Zethrid around. Zethrid nudged the two girls she had been playing with, a two-year-old named Acxa and another 3-year-old named Ezor. She offered them both a lion before going after Regris to play as well. Keith smiled and jumped up to play, giggling. He looked over and saw another kit that looked around his age. He tugged on Andol’s pant leg.

“Who’s that?” He asked, pointing at the other child. Andol looked in the direction Keith was pointing and smiled. 

“That is Narti. She is very shy, but I am sure she would love to be your friend.” Andol said. Keith perked up and grabbed the blue lion stuffed toy, walking over and offering it to her.

“Wanna play?” He asked. Narti looked over and smiled, nodded, and took the toy, getting up from her spot and joining the rest of the kits in their game. After a while, Keith became frustrated because Narti wasn’t talking when the blue lion was supposed to be. He ripped the blue lion from the child, causing Narti to start to cry, running back to her old spot. Snyv followed her, taking the girl into his arms and patting her back gently.

“That was very mean, Keith. You should not have done that.” Andol said.

“She wasn’t talking when she was ‘posed to be!” Keith said, as though that perfectly justified his actions.

“Even so, that is very mean. Narti can not talk even if she wanted to, because she is mute.” Andol explained gently. Keith paused.

“Mute?” He repeated, clearly confused about the term. Andol nodded.

“Yes, mute. She can not talk. She is also blind, so she can not see you, either. You see, Keith, she can not help these things. I am sure she would love to do the blue lion voice, but she can not.” Andol explained. Keith sniffled and gently grabbed the blue lion plush again, walking over to Narti and offering it to her again.

“I’m sowwy. Wanna be friends again?” Keith asked. Narti looked in his direction and smiled, taking the toy and nodding. Keith smiled and dragged the child back to their group once again. It seemed to Andol that Keith and Narti were getting along well after the bump in the road.

It was all going extremely well in Andol’s opinion, and he felt bad when he and Snyv had to stop their game to get them to eat lunch. Keith quietly ate, still looking a bit upset at his mother’s absence. 

Soon after lunch was nap time for the six kits. Acxa, Zethrid, Ezor, and Regris laid down onto the mats without a struggle and Snyv draped blankets over each of them, retrieving precious plushies for all of them that they had abandoned during their game. Regris had a stuffed yalmor, Acxa had a stuffed yupper, Ezor had a pink stuffed space caterpillar, Narti had a plush of a black and white with bits of orage and purple cat-like creature, and Zethrid had a blue stuffed space caterpillar. 

However, Keith refused to lay down for a nap. He was used to cuddling with his mother for his naps, or being left with Thace or Kolivan and sleeping in their lap. Andol knew it was a normal thing for kits who were just starting school, and he wasn’t surprised when Keith ran straight to the door, wailing for his mother. Snyv was preoccupied trying to get the five other kits to sleep by telling them a story about the paladins of Voltron. 

Keith, recognizing the stories, shuffled closer and quieted down a bit so that he could listen. He clung to his lion, listening intently to the story as Snyv told it, using various voices for each of the paladins. 

“Red!” He piped up when Snyv mentioned the red lion. Snyv paused and smiled.

“Yes, Keith, the red lion. You wanna come closer and listen to the story?” Snyv said. Keith nodded and sat down on one of the mats, pausing when Andol draped a blanket over him. He looked back at Snyv with wide eyes until he finished the story. Regris was already asleep, his tail wrapped around himself. Ezor was close to asleep.

“Is mama gonna be back soon?” Keith asked. 

“Yes, kit. About a varga after you wake up, I promise.” Snyv said. Keith nodded and laid down, struggling to fall asleep. He tossed and turned before sitting up again. Andol crouched in front of Keith, smiling.

“What is the matter, little one?” He asked quietly, aware of the four other sleeping kits in the room. 

“I wan’ mama.” Keith said. 

“I know you do, little one, and she will be back soon, I promise.” Andol said. Keith frowned and laid back down, whining quietly. He soon drifted off to sleep, clutching at his stuffed lion. 

-

Keith was awoken several vargas later by the sound of the other kits starting to get rowdy as they woke up from their own slumber. He pushed himself up and stood, rubbing at his eyes as he wandered over to the other kits, who had grabbed various and were making up some sort of game. Regris looked over when he heard Keith’s sleepy mumbles, grinning.

“Keith! Come on, come play with us!” The oldest kit said, grabbing onto Keith’s hand and dragging him over to the other kits, shoving a toy into his hands. Keith, who was still groggy and usually needed a little bit of time to wake up before he was ready to play, put the toy down and walked away, tugging on Snyv’s pant leg until he was picked up, resting his head on the man’s shoulder. Regris frowned and looked over in confusion.

“Do not worry, Regris. I am sure Keith wants to play with you, but he is still tired and is a bit overwhelmed right now.” Snyv said, rubbing Keith’s back until the kit squirmed to be put down. Keith ran over to the other kits, excitedly playing their game.

-

It was a few hours later that Thace peeked in to pick up Keith from the preschool. Keith looked over at the sound of the door opening and shrieked in delight.

“DADDY!” Keith exclaimed, running into Thace’s arms.

“There’s my little kit! Did you have a good day?” Thace asked happily. Keith nodded happily and laughed.

“Yeah!” He said. Thace nodded and ruffled Keith’s hair, looking over at the two caregivers.

“Did he behave?” Thace asked. Andol smiled.

“We had a few bumps in the road, but he was overall pretty well behaved. He plays well with the other kits after he learned that he needed to share and that Narti was blind and mute.” Andol said. Thace nodded with a smiled and glanced at the rest of the parents and pack members that were arriving to pick up their kits. He was surprised when Keith squirmed to be put down, hugging each of his new friends goodbye for the day. He then returned to Thace and whined to be picked up again. 

“We will see you tomorrow. Say bye Keith!” Thace said. Keith smiled.

“Bye-bye!” Keith said happily, waving as Thace carried him home to his pack.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr legendary-marmorans!


End file.
